


Little Dark Age

by fiveyaaas



Series: Fiveya Soulmate AUs [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (won’t happen until chapter 7 to clarify), Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, DIVERGES SO MUCH FROM CANON BUT IT HAS ELEMENTS OF S1 IN IT, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gift Fic, Heavy Angst, Hopeful Ending, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Soulmates, Pseudo-Incest, Robot Kink, Robot Sex, Robot/Human Relationships, Romantic Soulmates, Song Lyrics, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates, but it is not, but she’ll still play her violin don’t worry, idk what to tell you at this point, if you actually read this i’m sorry, i’m actually so proud of it like i thought for so long that this would be crack, okay so vanya is an engineer in this btw, this is my emotional support robot soulmate au, wildly this was wanted by someone else too, yeah the tag is probs necessary here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:02:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28899348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/pseuds/fiveyaaas
Summary: “By the end of summer break before senior year of high school, her project was complete.”
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Series: Fiveya Soulmate AUs [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826062
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	1. Breathing in the dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xxbunnykissesxx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxbunnykissesxx/gifts).



> Okay, so I have finally decided to write a fourth soulmate AU. I will have seven soulmate AUs total in this series, and the first chapters of 4-6 will be posted today. The seventh will actually be a collab, and it will be out in the next week most likely!!! This one is going to be soulmate timers, with a bit of a sci-fi twist. Five will be a time-loop fic, with all kinds of time travel angst lol! Six will be probably the fluffiest (and shortest) in all of the series, and it will be a soulmate AU where time stops for a month when you kiss your soulmate the first time. The last, the collab, I’m going to let be a surprise for you guys, but I’m super excited for it!!!
> 
> This one I am dedicating to xxbunnykissesxx, as this fic is actually for an exchange too!!! She is just the sweetest, funniest person, and I really hope she doesn’t mind that this started as a very crack-y idea and spiraled into... an angsty, hurt/comfort monster of a fic about Vanya building a robot best friend to cope with losing her soulmate.
> 
> As far as trigger warnings, I’m tagging violence on here, but it’ll be pretty close to canon typical. If super sci-fi concepts are unsettling for any of you guys, maybe skip this too? It’s not a very dark fic so much as it’s very angst-y. If any of my readers notice any other triggers, though, I’d encourage them to tell me!!! (I know I’m a little excessive when talking about trigger warnings, but I don’t want anybody to ever read my fics and get uncomfortable!!!)

Vanya knew that many people dreamed of meeting their soulmates all of their lives, but she’d always known hers. Ever since she’d been a child, she’d known it was Five. The numbers on the backs of their hands always matched, always making her uncomfortable when she sat beside him, feeling her skin prickle as more time that they spent together passed by. Sometimes she wished that Reginald had put the other’s tattoos over their soulmarks, but only she and Five had ever had them, anyways. It was a rare thing to have a soulmate, even rarer that somebody ever met theirs. Most people’s timers would just have a series of zeros until they died, never having had a chance to meet them. 

The backs of Five and Vanya’s hands were constantly accumulating with new times, though, as they spent almost all of their time together. By the end of breakfast, their timers would have another thirty or so minutes added on. 

She supposed it wasn’t really a problem, then, about whether or not she would ever meet her soulmate. 

No, the real problem was that she knew that he would one day leave her, and she couldn’t do anything about it. 

While most people only had one timer on the backs of their wrist, Vanya had _three._ Five had two, and it would only make sense that one of his would come separating from her for a long enough period of time that she’d find another soulmate in it. As soulmates were a once-in-a-lifetime thing, it meant he’d probably be gone a lifetime. 

He’d sounded betrayed the first time he’d realized she’d gotten another timer on her hand, but, the day after, he’d gotten one too. They both were aware it meant that him _leaving_ would be the reason she found one, so he didn’t really have any strength in his argument, not without sounding like a complete hypocrite. 

Though she supposed Five _was_ a complete hypocrite, considering the fact that he brought it up any time she told him he shouldn’t have time travel. He’d snap at her, _‘Are you worried your replacement for me won’t meet your expectations?’_ Vanya felt that that was unfair, considering the fact that she couldn’t really control who the universe gave her, and, truly, her other soulmate sounded better and better each day. She wasn’t exactly worried that they wouldn’t meet her expectations because anybody that wasn’t Five seemed better, anyways, especially when he was acting like this.

She thought of all this now as he stared at her. They were eating breakfast, and she was pretty sure that at any moment he would do something rash. Vanya glanced down at her plate, but his gaze didn’t move. Five knew that if he left what would happen, he wasn’t stupid. When he talked about time travel now, she could hear hesitation in his voice, but she didn’t think it really mattered. It was clear that he would have to at some point, and that he would be selfish enough to not return. 

Sometimes, she thought he’d find another soulmate too, but it just didn’t make sense to her that the world would give her _three._ Five having more than one made sense, but she didn’t see herself finding anybody outside of him, even if she knew that the universe had fated it for her. 

Either way, it didn’t matter. Even if she wanted them to only belong to one another, they simply _didn’t._

Apparently making his decision, Five slammed his knife into the table. She just sent him one glance before he left, accepting that she wouldn’t see him for a lifetime.

* * *

When Vanya stared at the empty spot each day, as if sheer willpower would bring him back, she knew that it was a fruitless effort. The skin around the timer she’d had for as long as she could remember had started to grow wilted, and the timer itself had turned bright red. For years, it had been a light green color, adding seconds every day, and it had always felt like a living thing. 

For some soulmates, they were destined to each other in a way that wasn’t romantic. What she’d felt for Five was never romantic, not seeing the point in it when he would leave her the second he had a chance. Five, at least in this iteration, her confidante and best friend, would never be something more. She was not soulmates with him anymore, and they were dead to one another. 

But he wasn’t dead. She comforted herself in that fact. He’d had another timer. 

And if he’d found someone better than her, wherever he was, good for him. Because she would have somebody too. Soon enough.

* * *

Soon enough. She could feel it. 

* * *

Just a little longer. 

* * *

Vanya stared at Ben’s coffin, making her choice. She would have three lifetimes with other people, and he would not have a single one. It was time that she found them.

* * *

“Mom?” At seventeen years old, Vanya had lost hope entirely. She’d been sent away for school, finding nobody meant for her there. It was the summer now, bright sunshine having beat down on her skin when she’d walked inside the mansion. Father couldn’t exactly refuse to have her home during the summer months, not without arousing suspicion among the staff of the small boarding school in England, so she would be back at her home for a short while.

Grace turned to her. She didn’t respond to Vanya when she tried to call her Grace, so Vanya called her ‘Mom’ out loud. “What is it, dear? Are you feeling okay? You look pale, perhaps it is jet lag…”

“No, I’m fine, Mom.” Vanya wasn’t fine, but she wasn’t sick, either, which is what the android was concerned about. “I was wondering if you would tell me how you were made.”

She looked confused for a second. Her features didn’t move at all from the smile she’d been cursed with for years, but she stared blankly ahead, indicating she wasn’t sure how to respond to the question. “Well, dear, your father, the great Sir Reginald Hargreeves—”

“I just meant as far as your mechanics go. Would you be able to give me a basic blueprint or something?”

Grace blinked. “Well, yes, I suppose. Are you interested in robotics now, dear? Because there are quite a few summer camps that I could probably still get you into, if you’d like.”

“No, Mom, I want this to be an… independent study.”

“Well, alright, then. Let me grab some paper. Would you like a snack? You look so thin, dear. It is not healthy to starve yourself, you know.”

Vanya didn’t respond, except to say, “I’m fine.” Eating right now was hard, everything looking as appealing to her as a pile of cockroaches and rotten canned goods. “But could I go with you? I’d like to talk to you.”

“Of course, dear.” When Vanya hugged her, Grace made a surprised noise, like she couldn’t quite compute the action. It had been lonely where she’d been, like Father’s instructions to isolate her hadn’t just applied to her siblings, but to the whole world as well. The only person who’d ever made her feel like she wasn’t alone was gone. “If you’d like, we could talk for the rest of the day. Your siblings are on a mission currently, and they won’t be back until tomorrow. We could spend the day on your independent study, if you’d like!”

She’d never really thought much of Grace. The android was gentle with them, but that was kind of the point. It was a means of garnering their trust. 

Still, Vanya didn’t want to be alone, and having her mother spend the day with her, answering her questions and teaching her the basics in mechanics as well as even design for recreating faces, was the best interaction she’d ever had with her mother.

* * *

By the end of summer break before senior year of high school, her project was complete. 

She stared at the machine, modeled perfectly after the soulmate she’d once had, adjusted with how he’d look with a little aging. Not figuring it really mattered but figuring it would feel weird to talk to a teenager for the rest of her life, she’d made him appear in his mid-twenties. His features had been crafted with care, sculpted as perfectly as Grace had. Vanya had never known she was modeled after a woman Reginald had known years ago, and it had been the only time she’d ever really understood a decision he’d made. 

This version of Five wasn’t meant for anything except to have somebody to talk to. She’d made him to where he could be compressed into a suitcase, so she wouldn’t have to worry about hiding him when she got to the airport. He was watching her, green eyes following her moves eerily. 

“Stop following my movements,” she ordered. He nodded, gulping. The noise had come from some of the footage Sir Reginald had collected of him for years, adapted to more fit the robot’s ‘age.’

Vanya had not asked him to speak yet, waiting until he was perfect visually and in his movements before she decided if his vocal patterns were right. With the way the noise he’d made had sent a shiver down her spine, she’d figured that she’d nailed it, and he would be completely indistinguishable from her best friend, just aged up from the one who’d left her behind. She let herself think that this was just because he’d matured in his age, that he’d learned his lesson from time travel and he was now ready to come home to her. 

“Nod yes if you are comfortable.”

Five nodded, blinking. His eyebrows furrowed, like he was worried she was upset, but he stayed silent, unable to disobey her orders. Once she was at her school, she’d tell him that he could do as he wished, figuring that he probably didn’t want to spend all his time holed up in her dorm room. She wouldn’t treat Five the way Reginald treated Grace. No matter what, she’d let him be his own person. For if she truly wanted this machine to _be_ Five, his will would be completely free, and he would do what he wanted and felt he must do. 

Some of his body had been grown in a lab downstairs, one that had once been used to build Grace. His hair, for example, couldn’t be painted on and believable, so she’d figured out how to create something close to human. Dr. Frankenstein would be rolling in his grave at her talents, but she didn’t think of the man in front of her as a monster by any means. 

No, this was her best friend, resurrected from the dead. Five had not died in a true sense, but he’d died to her the day he chose to leave her behind, to accept fate for what it was. 

“Speak to me,” Vanya finally said, touching his cheek, just a little rough with stubble. 

Five stared at her, and, in fascination, she watched as his hand lit up with green numbers that started scratching into his skin, “Vanya?”

The second timer on her hand started just as his own had, the familiar itch only occurring to her when she could get past her own shock, turning green to match her second soulmate’s. 

She whispered, voice reverent, “Hello, Five.”


	2. Lying on its side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the next chapter is going to be a _little_ bit longer, so it might take me a while to update it, depending on how motivated I am to do so. I’m trying to get where I update three fics a day, but I’m not certain how consistent I’ll be on that. Also, I’m going to be working on some Tumblr asks today, so, if you’ve sent in a request, it might be up soon!

Five stared at Vanya, watching her gape at his soulmate timer in frank amazement. 

“How are you…?” When she touched his hand, he didn’t precisely  _ feel  _ her touch, not physically, but he could sense how stunned she was, feeling a little unsettled by the fact that she was so shocked. Did she not think he was a good match for her?

“I am your soulmate.” His fingers brushed over the back of her hand, where a new timer had started. “Am I not—” Five sealed his lips, knowing to suggest what he was thinking would hurt her. “That is why our timers now match.”

She started blinking rapidly, tears streaming down her cheeks, “But  _ how?” _

“Because—”

Vanya cut him off, “How could you be my soulmate when I  _ created _ you?”

“Aren’t the best soulmates somebody we have chosen completely on our own? Somebody who we have decided to love and who has decided to love us and is willing to put in the work to stay together forever?”

She opened her mouth, a small noise falling from it. As gently as he could, he set his hand on her cheek, wanting the sensation of  _ feeling,  _ but the closest he got was the emotion coursing through him. There were no physical sensations within him at all, and he was certain that he was only experiencing  _ emotions  _ because of his soulmate. He wanted to do whatever he could to thank her, considering how she’d basically brought him to life. 

“You do not have to worry,” Five promised. “I will be a good soulmate to you.”

The shock left her eyes, replaced with a saddened look. Five wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know what she wanted. “I don’t doubt that you will be, Five.” She set her hand on top of his, and, where their timers pressed together, he swore he felt a sensation, something  _ physical.  _ “It’s that…” Tears filled her eyes, and, when she leaned against him, he wrapped his arms around her, being as soft as he could in the movement. “You’re my  _ soulmate,”  _ she choked out. “I never got to experience…  _ meeting  _ my soulmate, and I get to do that, with you.”

_ “Oh.”  _ It hadn’t occurred to him that she was feeling overwhelmed that she had  _ found  _ her soulmate, not because her soulmate was  _ him. _ She sounded almost  _ happy  _ about it, and he could feel the tension within him being to unravel. Hugging her tightly, he repeated, “I still promise that I will be good to you, Vanya. You can count on me for that.”

She drew herself back, holding onto his arms with her small hands. “I’m going to have to hide you, for just a bit, but is that okay with you?”

“Will it make you happy if I do this?” She had basically given him the world, and he had to return the favor. Whatever she wanted, he was determined to give her. Even though he would like to explore the home he’d just seen flashes of, he knew that his soulmate probably had to hide him, from what she’d mutter about her father. While she’d built his body and tinkered with any flaws in his design, she’d always talk to him, not necessarily even realizing that she was doing so. Five had listened to everything she said, soaking it in. 

He hated Reginald, on principle, and he would kill him the second he had the chance. Unless Vanya told him he couldn’t, but he wouldn’t see why she’d be too upset with it. 

“I don’t want you to think that I’d be hiding you for any reason other than keeping you safe,” Vanya said finally, stroking his arms. He wondered if she appreciated the design she’d given him. It was easy for himself to enjoy how he looked, given the fact that he was created by her, and he imagined that anything she could ever make was lovely. “You won’t be upset with me if I hide you, right? I don’t want you to be upset because of me.”

“You could never upset me,” Five told her, lifting up her hand and kissing her palm. “I understand that you would protect me, for you are the kindest human of all.”

She blushed, bright red. “I wouldn’t say  _ that.” _

“But you are. You have brought me life, and already my life is happy with you.” Worried that he was laying it on a little thick, based on her features, he hastened to add, “If you would like to hide me, just tell me where you need me to go, and I will be as stealth as I possibly can.”

“Pretty soon, I’m going to go away to school and I'm for sure going to put you in my suitcase when I do. For now, we can just hide you in my room, while I get fully prepared to leave.”

“If a situation arises where I must protect you...” He trailed off, seeing the smile his soulmate was giving him. “What?”

“You just… You sound completely  _ right,”  _ Vanya told him, tracing over his timer. “You’re perfect.”

“Because you made me to be,” he told her, lightly pressing his lips to her hand, trying to feel the spark he’d felt when he’d originally touched the timer. “How much longer will it be before we leave for your school?”

“Less than twenty four hours.” 

Five mentally catalogued this, searching over her body to be certain that she was fully alright, realizing that she was the slightest bit nervous. “What’s wrong?”

“I just don’t want anybody to hurt you,” she explained, hiding behind her bangs. “And I know that if he found you—”

“He would not hurt me,” Five promised. “Because it would displease you, and I refuse to let you be upset.”

Vanya gave him a small, sweet smile. “You don’t have to convince me to like you, you know. I already like you.”

He didn’t understand why she was asking, but there was no time to ask her to clarify as she was already darting out of there, grabbing his hands to have him follow. Throughout the entire time they climbed up the stairs, she cautiously glanced around, trying to be certain that they were not followed. Five could have probably told her that there was no danger, but she’d instructed him to be silent as soon as they’d reached a more inhabited portion of the house. It was not his place to argue with her command, especially so soon after they’d finally been able to formally meet. Spending so long just having moments of understanding, seeing his soulmate work to build him properly, had been awful, knowing that he wasn’t yet able to interact with her. Even though he knew that he likely shouldn’t be able to  _ have  _ desire, he’d desired the opportunity to get to know her for as far back as his data went. 

“Alright,” Vanya finally said, pulling him into her room, which resembled a walk-in closet. “Here we are. Stay still until I tell you otherwise.”

He did.

* * *

When she was finally ready to pack him up into her suitcase, she asked, “Do you mind if I deconstruct your body? For the trip?”

“No, that’s fine. I don’t mind.” 

Vanya continued staring at him, making no attempt to move forward. 

“Is there something wrong?”

Her eyes filled with tears, and he stepped forward cautiously, opening up his arms and hoping that she would accept this sign of affection from him. She did, wrapping her arms around him. 

“Do you need anything?”

“I… Will it hurt? For me to do that?”

Five shook his head. “It won’t.” He waited until she pulled away before he walked to her bed, unscrewing his leg from his body to show her that there were no painful sensations he felt from it. There were no sensations at all, really. “Do you want me to get the other leg? Would that be easier for you? I could only get one arm, but I could do as much as I am able if it helped.”

“No, no that’s okay.” She walked over to him, wrapping her hands around his calf, staring up at him. “Tell me if it hurts, though.”

He nodded, wise enough to not argue with her. Vanya sat down on the floor as she started to detach limbs from him, working slower than likely necessary, probably convinced that she would somehow hurt him. Five watched her motions, soothed by the familiar motions of her working on him. 

“Have you ever considered a career in engineering? I know you enjoy the violin, since you played for me while I was being built, but I think that you’d be an extraordinary engineer.” Her heart leapt at the word, ‘extraordinary,’ prompting Five to ask, “Do you not like that word?”

“What word?” Her voice was too casual, and he contemplated not pushing it. 

But he  _ did  _ need to know if the word was displeasing to her, for future reference. “Extraordinary. Your pulse was affected when I used it.”

“It’s just not a word that accurately describes me, Five.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m not like…”

“Not like _what?”_

“Can we not talk about this? For right now?”

“Alright.” He would ask her about this later, confused why she didn’t think of herself as extraordinary. For one thing, she’d been able to create an android more  _ alive  _ than any out there. Ordinary people couldn’t do that. “Would you like me to be silent?”

A small, unsettled noise escaped her mouth. “I don’t want you to…” Biting her lip and glancing away, she told him, “Until we get to my dorm room, yes, I’d like you to be silent.”

He wondered what he’d done wrong. Going through every interaction with her, he couldn’t find where,  _ precisely,  _ he had messed up. As she sealed her suitcase shut over him, putting a few other belongings inside with him, he tried to figure out the answer. For a few moments, he’d thought that his soulmate was excited to have him, but he wasn’t certain as of this point. 

Perhaps it was the fact that she couldn’t possibly have known what to expect with him, and she was grieving over the fact that he wasn’t human. (Or, not as human as she was, for she wasn’t completely human, either.) Five could understand that, he supposed. She  _ had  _ built him with another of her soulmates in mind, and he wouldn’t ever be able to actually be that man. Sure, she could likely have him copy his mannerisms and get him to the point where he bore nearly a perfect resemblance, both in personality and appearance, but she wouldn’t be getting  _ him  _ back. 

If it would make her happy, he could be like the other Five completely, but he didn’t know if it would. Oftentimes, when she’d be working on his wiring, she’d explain that her soulmate had been arrogant, selfish, and sometimes unbearably cruel. Sensing how much it had hurt her, he’d moderated his personality to be as kind to her as he possibly could, though he was aware, too, that it hurt to see someone that bore a striking resemblance to one of her soulmates but didn’t act like him. 

He was determined to ask her, as soon as he felt it was appropriate (conscious of the many conflicting feelings that she was experiencing),  _ how  _ she would like him to act. 

Five would be a good soulmate to her. He was determined to do so, for she had given him everything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! There will be updates for “he wore black and i wore white” and “Lightning in a Bottle” in the next hour-ish. Sorry if you’ve gotten a bunch of emails again. 😔

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!!!💕 If you guys are worried about Human not getting finished at all, do not worry!!!! I don’t intend to stop writing for fiveya until all of my WIPs are done, so don’t think I’m abandoning any of my WIPs when I post new ones. For some people, I know they don’t like having multiple projects, but it really helps me focus _more _when I have more things going at once as weird as it sounds.__


End file.
